1. Regions of Africa Sahara Desert

2. Imagine a place on Earth that gets so hot that you could only go without water for four hours. Pretty scary, uh? You would walk hundreds of miles and see only sand.  This is the Sahara Desert, the largest desert in the world!

3. Location

4. What makes the Sahara a desert? • The Sahara is one of the hottest places on Earth. Even though temperatures there may rise to 136 F (57.7 C), its dryness, not heat, that makes a place like the Sahara a desert. • As the world's largest desert, the Sahara receives less than three inches (7.6 cm) of rain a year. Even in its wettest areas, rain may arrive twice in one week, then not return for years.

5. The word "Sahara" means "desert" in the Arabic language.  The Sahara is one of the hottest places on earth.   September, 1922, the temperature in the Sahara soared to 136 degrees F.  At night the temperature can drop below freezing.

6. Emi Koussi, a peak in the Tibesti Mountains is 11, 204 feet high and the highest point in the desert. Land Forms The Sahara Desert has many  different landforms.  Parts have sand dunes.  A sand dune is a mountain of sand.  Some dunes can be as high as 600 feet.  These dunes are found in huge areas of shifting sand called ergs. Regs are another type of landform found in the desert.  regs are broad plains covered with sand and gravel.  Regs make up most of the Sahara.

7. Hammadas also make up a large part of the Sahara.  These are areas of flat, raised land that are also known as plateaus.  There are volcanic mountains in the Sahara in the country of Chad. Emi Koussi, a peak in the Tibesti Mountains is 11, 204 feet high and the highest point in the desert.

8. Sometimes you can find gazelles and antelope in sand dunes of the Sahara.  Mostly though, you will finds, birds, snakes, lizards, gerbils, and small foxes in the dunes. Many desert animals search for food at night, because it is cooler.

11. The stem of the Saguaro Cactus stores all of its water. The stem is green. Photosynthesis occurs in the top layer of the stem instead of in leaves. This plant has another adaptation that is hidden from us. This is its large net of roots -- that extend far away from its trunk. How would these roots help a desert plant? The roots collect water after rain. Stored in the pleated expandable stem, the water keeps the saguaro alive until the next rain. Saguaro fruit is used in jam and woody skeletons are used in building materials.  The Saguaro only grows in the Sonoran Desert, which stretches through parts of Arizona, California, and Mexico. This cactus can grow as tall as fifty feet, weigh up to several tons, and live for two hundred years. The saguaro's sharp spines protect it from harm.  The accordion-like pleats in its skin expand in the rain, storing extra water for the long dry times.